March 29-A, 2023

Bog River Falls Adirondack Park, 09/29/2014 Oil Paint Rendered — Tupper Lake, New York
If you take something, anything, on faith,
you can't say that's the way it is--
it is the way you believe it is.

The distance between the way things are
and the way we believe they are,
and the way we wish they were, 
is the distance between here/now
and the other side of the universe.

But, we don't let that stop us.
We are always taking the way we believe things are
to be the way things are.

It is a trick we play on ourselves
and any un-savvy others who happen to be 
in the neighborhood.

We see something we would like to be so
and declare it to be so,
and it suddenly becomes so,
just like that.

Of course, nothing changed
except the way we think about the things
we believe to be so.

It is magic in action.

When people start talking about 
the things they take on faith as being real,
like hell, say, or "the plan of salvation"
(Which we believe to be so as a counter weight
to our deserving to go to hell,
which we also believe to be so,
because we angered/disappointed God,
which we also believe to be so...)
we have to either walk away,
or step right in and say,
"You only believe it to be so.
It isn't so or you wouldn't have to take it on faith."

Being clear about what's what
and what's not
is steady work between this world
and the made-up imaginary world
of things we believe to be so
because somebody told us they are,
when what they really told us 
is that they believe they are.

"Fair winds and following seas"
sailing the course that is set before us
all the days of our lives!

–0–

March 28-B, 2023

Monument Valley Sunrise 09/26/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona
Here's one for you:
There are people who take it on faith
that there is a god whom they call God,
who gets pissed off like that (snaps fingers)
and sends people to hell
for, like, not honoring their father and mother,
whatever "honoring" means,
and other slights like "keeping the Sabbath holy."
(Now the Sabbath used to be Saturday,
but it became Sunday when somebody
took it on faith that Sunday would be better, 
which certainly seems to qualify
for not keeping the Sabbath holy,
but, whatever, which brings us to this:

If you are going to take something on faith,
why not let it be "Whatever happens is just what happens,
and we deal with it as best we can,
doing what seems to be called for
in each situation as it arises,
and see where it goes"?

No God, no Master Plan, no hell, no theology,
just seeing what is happening
and what needs to be done about it
and doing it,
situation by situation 
throughout our life.

If you are going to take something on faith,
why not that???

The old Taoists did that.
They took that on faith,
and recommended going with the flow
of life's energy
(Which they called "Tao")
in deciding what needs to be done,
and letting that guide us through our life.
And, they are still doing it.
It has worked for them
since before the Buddha.

And, speaking of the Buddha,
there is someone who advised
seeing what we look at (Right seeing)
and doing what needs to be done about it
(Right doing).

Taoism and Buddhism are clear, simple, 
ways of sizing things up,
rising to any occasion,
and doing what is called for
here/now day-by-day
without having to take anything on faith,
other than that's all it takes
to live well and enjoy what is to be enjoyed 
about every day.

–0–

March 28-A, 2023

Monument Valley Moonrise 02 -09/25/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona
If you are against gun control
or vote for people who are against gun control,
you are complicit in the deaths
of those killed in school shootings
and in all other mass shootings,
and are an accomplice in their deaths.

You turn that around by being for gun control
and by voting against those who are against gun control.
Starting now.

–0–

March 27-B, 2023

Moonrise at Monument Valley 09/02/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona
Waiting on the next thing
is a great place
to recover from the past
and store up for the future,
just being still,
quiet
and empty of all thoughts
and emotions.

How long has it been?
How still,
quiet
and empty can you be?

For how long?

What drives you to noise?
Complexity?
Drama?

Get to the bottom of it.
See what's there.

What does thinking about
what you think about
keep you from thinking about?

Realization is possible
apart from thinking.

Things come out of nowhere
to those who are still, quiet, empty
enough long enough.

That is what the Native American
vision quests were all about.
Being still enough,
quiet enough,
empty enough,
long enough
to realize what our psyche
has to say to us
all along the way.

Our psyche is a resource
we would do well 
to access on a regular basis.

Tuning out
to tune in,
making ourselves available
to realizations
beyond rational thought.

Meditatively making ourselves available
to psychic resources
throughout the day
every day.

I wonder why no one 
has ever thought of that.

And why more of us don't do it.

–0–

March 27-A, 2023

North Rim 05 05/20/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Grand Canyon National Park, Utah
Living with integrity,
sincerity
and spontaneity,
transcends
the contriving,
willful,
pursuit of the acquisition 
of wealth and power,
and opens the way
to following the flow 
of life energy
through circumstances
and situations as they arise.

In so doing, we create a path
that can only be recognized
as a path
in hindsight
by those who are living as if
it matters that they do right
by the moment,
from moment to moment,
with no sense of the bigger picture
anywhere in sight.

"As if" and "as though"
do not get enough press.

Assume for the time being 
that there is no absolute reality,
that everything is only apparently real,
and we all are living "as if," "as though"
what appears to be real
is actually real.

We do not need anything 
to be actually real
if we are all in agreement
with one another in acting
"as if," "as though" 
things are real whether they are 
or not.

This is the flip side of R.D. Laing's 
observation, "They are playing the game
of not playing a game."

We, on the other hand, are playing the game
of playing as though the game we are playing
is real, even though it is only real
because we say it is.

We play religion as though it is real.
We take everything on faith
as though it is factual,
and, like that, it becomes so
on the strength of saying it is.

Just so, when we live with integrity,
sincerity and spontaneity,
intent on following the flow of life energy,
through circumstances
and situations as they arise,
we create a path
that can only be recognized
as a path
in hindsight
by those who are living as if
it matters that they do right
by the moment,
from moment to moment,
with no sense of the bigger picture
anywhere in sight.

Yet, when we look back from any point
in the future,
it is plainly evident that circumstances
and situations have fallen into place
as if (That term again) by magic
and leading us straight away
to right here, right now.

"As if," "as though," are the golden keys
to life with direction and purpose,
foundation and validation
in the most adamantine and unshakeable 
kind of way.

When we give ourselves over to "as if," "as though,"
we put ourselves on a track
that validates itself 
and our trust in it,
with a life of examples proving
the absolute reality
of what is only apparently and ostensibly actual.

Try it for yourself,
and see if it isn't so!

–0–

March 26-B, 2023

Tri-colored Heron Reflection 08/30/2013 — The Bog Garden, Greensboro, North Carolina
I've been retired ten years, 
and hope I'm just beginning.

Retirement is a place for refining,
perfecting 
and applying
the lessons of the aging process--
it is all practice!

In retirement,
we continue the eternal practice
of seeing what we look at
and doing what needs to be done about it,
when, where and how it needs to be done,
repeating with increasing acuity 
until we transition 
back into the light.

It's all practice!

We live to refine,
perfect
and apply the eternal practice
of being alive
with our eyes open,
attuned to what needs to be done
here/now
in each situation as it arises,
in a here we are,
now what?
Kind of way.

There is only the practice!

The practice IS
the performance!

Our opus!
Our legacy!

From that,
we never retire!

March 26-A, 2023

Mothball Fleet 10/13/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Swanquarter, North Carolina
We help each other 
find what we need
to do what needs to be done
in each situation as it arises
all our lives long.

It isn't about getting ahead
or having it made.
It is about having what it takes
to do what needs to be done.

The right attitude
is one if the things it takes.
Adam and Eve did not have the right attitude.
Jesus did.

Jesus was a see what needs to be done
and do it kind of guy.

Life can be a sorrowful existence
if entered with the wrong attitude.
"Oh, woe, boo-hoo," you know.

"Here I am and this is what I can do,
where shall I get started?"
Doesn't have time for sorrow and woe.

We can feel bad if we enjoy that kind of thing,
and we can look until we find something
we can do
with our original nature
and our innate virtues/traits/specialties,
and get to work.

Helping each other find what we need
to do what needs to be done
is a job that always needs doing.

Asking, "What do you need
to do what needs to be done?"
Is a good place to start.
Asking yourself
and everyone else who comes your way.

–0–

March 25-B, 2023

Angel Oak Oil Paint Rendered 11/04/2015 — Angel Oak Park, Johns Island, South Carolina
A) This is the way things are,
B) and this is what we can do about it,
C) and that's that.
D) And THAT'S the way things are!

The A-B-C-D's of life/living/being alive.

Coming to terms with them,
making our peace with them,
being okay, alright, fine with them
is the work of being alive.

Why do we fight it so?
Hate it so?
Resent it so?
Deny it so?

Denial is our most popular response.
Drugs/Sex/Alcohol/Religion, you know.
Compensation for being stuck in a life
we can't bear to live.

We take our mind off our plight
anyway we can.
Thinking about heaven
and how it will be one day
by and by.

Or just not thinking about it at all,
with the other three options
offering distraction and diversion
all along life's way.

Through it all,
the reality remains.

I recommend embracing the reality.
Dancing with the reality.
Doing what we can with the reality.
And letting that be that.

Doing what we can with the reality
includes not taking it seriously.
And doing what needs to be done
within the givens of our life
every day
in a "So What? Who Cares? 
Anyway! Nevertheless! Even So!"
kind of way.

If soldiers on the battle front
can face what awaits them
in that way,
the rest of us can apply it
wherever/whenever/however we are
as well.

What is our life asking of us?
Do it! Smiling, laughing,
dancin' in the rain all the way!

Live each day like it needs to be lived!
Like it needs us to live it!
Like only we can live it!
Anyway!
Nevertheless!
Even So!

Every Day!

In spite of the fact
that we need better choices!

These are the choices we have!
Drawing from our original nature,
our innate virtues/specialties
the silence/emptiness/stillness
and choose what needs to be chosen
doing what/when/where/how
it needs to be done!

Every Day!

–0–

March 25-A, 2023

Lake Francis 10/31/2013 Oil Paint Rendered — Anne Springs Close Greenway, Fort Mill, South Carolina
Luck is the ground of life and being.
And, the old adage applies:
"The more I practice, the luckier I get."

What is your practice?
How often do you practice your practice?

It is amazing what 
sitting still,
being quiet
and empty--
and having no expectations
and nothing stake in the outcome--
can do for our luck quotient.

The right attitude
and the right practice
lend themselves to being lucky.

I became lucky
the minute I quit
trying to effect outcomes
and have things go my way.

Being a cork on the water
makes it easy to find things 
to like about every eddy
and crashing wave.

It is always my lucky day
with nothing to gain
and nothing to lose--
just being glad to be here
and watching for what happens next,
it's amazing the things you can find
to like about what comes your way.

–0–

March 24-B, 2023

Along Taylor Creek 05/22/2010 Oil Paint Rendered — Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah
There is our business
and there is none of our business.
It helps to know the difference
and to stay on the "our business"
side of the line.

Who are we?
What are we about?
What is our business?
What is none of our business?
Where do we belong?
Where do we have no business being?
What is ours to do?
What is not ours to do?
Who says so?

If you can't answer these questions,
where have you been?
What have you been doing with your life?
What have you learned
that has been most helpful
in being who you are,
doing what is yours to do?

"Who says so?"
is the most important question
in the lot.
What is the authority
upon which your life is based?

It needs to be your own personal experience.

We learn what works and what doesn't work,
what is "us" and what is "not us,"
what is "our thing" and what is not "our thing,"
by getting in there and doing something,
anything,
and seeing what happens.

And, "asking/seeking/knocking"
in getting to the bottom of what's what,
and what needs to be done about it.

We can't take anything for an answer,
even our own conclusions in the matter,
any matter.

Everything is a "tentative hypothesis"
awaiting further experience/experimentation.
But, we develop some pretty sound theories
over time.

For instance, "Noise/complexity/drama"
get us off track like that (blinks),
and "Silence/emptiness/stillness"
get us back on track almost as fast,
and we don't spend enough time 
in our own company.

And "Reflection is the sure path 
to new realizations."

And realization is enlightenment,
and that is all we need 
to know what our business is,
and what our business is not.

And that puts everything 
in balance and harmony,
and that is all we need
to do what needs to be done,
when/where/how it needs to be done
in each situation as it arises.

And that's all there is to it.

–0–

March 24-A, 2023

Lower Falls 04/25/2007 Oil Paint Rendered — Hanging Rock State Park, North Carolina
I think we can't live our life--
the life that is uniquely ours to live--
showcasing our original nature
and innate virtues/specialties,
while living like life 
is being lived around us.

I think we have to draw a frame
around ourselves,
set ourselves apart,
listen to our own body,
heart, 
soul,
self.
Tune into ourselves,
and live from inner to outer,
doing it the way we would do it,
not the way it is being done
by "everybody."

What would you wear
if the people you hang with
did not select your clothes for you?
What would you eat
if they did not select your menu choices?
What movies would you watch?
Would you watch TV at all?
Etc. and so forth
up and down your life.

How much of you is you,
and how much is somebody else?

–0–

March 23-B, 2023

Sunflower Field 07/04/2015 Oil Paint Rendered — Draper Wildlife Management Area, York County, South Carolina
Jesus was a fully Woke human being.
Luke 21:36,and Revelation 3:2
are starting points for you,
but the entire Bible is a textbook
for Wokeness,
demanding that everybody wake up
and live Woke lives all the way
to Beulah Land.

If you are not Woke,
you are a Sleeper!
And you know what happens to Sleepers!
Sleeping their life away
and their Afrerlife along with it!

My brother likes to say,
"Bureaucracy is the end of Democracy!"
Of course, he is right about that.

Bureaucracy is the gift of Sleepers,
and is a systematic way of being,
and remaining,
asleep at the wheel--
preferring as it does,
doing things as they have always been done
with nothing changing ever.

Sleepers always want to return to
the days when things were done right,
and institute level after level
of bureaucracy to make sure nothing
ever changes again,
unless it means making money,
and then they are all for it,
the more the better.

The Russians have paid the Sleepers
in Congress to sell out Democracy,
which they have gladly done,
and will continue to do,
until they have all the money there is,
and then they will print more.

The Government is an endless gold mind,
printing money and lowering taxes 
on themselves and their favored corporations,
and raising taxes on everyone else,
telling the people, "Don't be Woke!
We gotcha covered!"
(Which means, "We are robbing you blind!).

You can Sleep through it all if you want to.
I'm going to be as Woke as I can be,
banging on the tops of metal garbage cans
all the way!

Just like Jesus did it,
and would have it done!

If you are not Woke,
you are a Sleeper,
sleeping your life away!

–0–